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Nice article, I wonder if there are good examples of significant basic research being done by outsiders as hobbyists and amateurs ? I imagine in mathematics th
by j7ake 7y ago
Nice article, I wonder if there are good examples of significant basic research being done by outsiders as hobbyists and amateurs ?
I imagine in mathematics this would be possible, but increasingly less likely as the research becomes more capital intensive
- yters 7y agoSounds like now is a time for a return to philosophy! Much less capital intensive to be able to make a contribution by thinking, reading and discussing vs setting up a multimillion dollar research lab.
- Jun8 7y agoRight. One recent example for an independent research in math is Yitang Zhang (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitang_Zhang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitang_Zhang) who, after completing PhD at Purdue University, worked off jobs (accountant, etc.) for 8 years, while doing his research.
- veddox 7y agoEinstein, 120 years ago...
- btrettel 7y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_scientist#Notable_independent_scientists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_scientist#Notable_... In my own field, fluid dynamics, Robert Kraichnan is very well respected and spent the majority of his career working as an independent scientist. As you suggested, math is cheap, so Kraichnan was a theorist. This seems to be the largest online forum for independent scientists: https://forum.igdore.org/ https://forum.igdore.org/